ASTANA: The Indian girls’s desk tennis crew assured itself of a first-ever medal on the Asian Championships with a shocking 3-2 win over Paris Olympics bronze medallists South Korea within the quarterfinals right here on Tuesday.
World quantity 92 Ayhika Mukherjee was the architect of the well-known victory as she beat world quantity 8 Shin Yubin and world quantity 16 Jeon Jihee within the rubber.
Ayhika and Manika Batra had given India an surprising 2-Zero lead earlier than the South Koreans made it 2-2. Ayhika held her nerve in opposition to Jihee to seal the win within the deciding contest.
The ladies’s crew has been producing constant performances in premier occasions and had reached the quarterfinals on the Paris Olympics. Ayhika was not a part of the crew in Paris however again following the surprising retirement of Archana Kamath, she made all of the distinction in opposition to South Korea.
Ayhika has constructed a status of being an enormous killer having overwhelmed world primary Solar Yinghsa from China on the World Group Championships earlier this yr.
On Tuesday, she put India forward with an 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7 win over eighth-ranked Shin Yuben.
World quantity 29 Manika then made it 2-Zero for India with a 12-14, 13-11, 11-5, 5-11, 12-10 win over 16th-ranked Jeon Jihee.
India’s highest-ranked participant at 26, Sreeja Akula, allowed the Koreans to get again within the match after dropping to Lee Eunhye in straight video games — 6-11, 10-12, 8-11.
Yubin then levelled the tie with a scrappy 13-11, 11-4, 6-11, 7-11, 12-10 win over Manika.
Within the all-important decider, Ayhika downed Jihee 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 12-10 to get the job completed.
The Indian males’s crew will play its quarterfinal on Wednesday.
